Not shedding one antler

[antlerradar]

This year I watched a buck go and bed on the morning of the 18th of Dec. That evening he had shed one of his antlers. At first I watched him with anticipating him to shed at any moment. He was still packing the one antler as of yesterday morning. Until this buck I have never seen a buck carry a single antler more than a week. It is now been 25 days. Anyone ever seen a buck carry a single for that long? Frustrating me greatly and no end in sight.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Officer, I was only trying to shoot the antler, not the deer....!

Kansas game warden frees tangled deer by literally shooting their antlers apart

Game wardens with KDWPT first learned of the tangled deer last Thursday, after a concerned bowhunter in Jackson County alerted the department of their “unfortunate entanglement,” the wardens wrote on Facebook.

www.foxnews.com

 

[MThuntr]

I was under the impression they shed within a few hours or maybe a day...not a month or more

Maybe he's a unicorn in disguise

 

[jeremys4]

I had a buck I was watching hold on to an antler for at least a week till I lost him. I’d stop and glass him up every morning then over the weekend might had gotten pushed out of his spot.

 

[BRI]

I was over in your neck of the woods calling coyotes last week. Surprised at some of the WT bucks I still saw packing antlers.

 

[AlaskaHunter]

I often find 2 pair of antlers with moose sheds...I assumed they were shed within a narrow time range.

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

Could be that some kind of traumatic event cause the first to shed before it was really ready....

 

[COEngineer]

I happen to be reading an elk textbook (not exactly deer, but close) and it says the synchronicity of shedding antlers is not well understood, but generally the more mature/dominant bulls tend to be less synchronous.

 

[bonedogg]

crazy to see on a big ol buck like that one hold on to it, on a small guy I get it, but that lopsided weight has got to be a pain in the but for them...gotta be soon.

 

[squirrel]

Longest I have ever watched was 10-12 days. Betcha that first one hurt like hell when it went! Did you find the single? Was it clean? I found one once that had a 1- maybe 1-1/4" piece of skull still on the antler... OUCH! That was the first one of his to go and he held on the second one for over a week, and I never found it, may have just moved on and continued to hold it.

 

[antlerradar]

I happen to be reading an elk textbook (not exactly deer, but close) and it says the synchronicity of shedding antlers is not well understood, but generally the more mature/dominant bulls tend to be less synchronous.

I have three other sets from this buck. The other sets were just feet apart, so I would assume that they were shed close to the same time.

 

[antlerradar]

Longest I have ever watched was 10-12 days. Betcha that first one hurt like hell when it went! Did you find the single? Was it clean? I found one once that had a 1- maybe 1-1/4" piece of skull still on the antler... OUCH! That was the first one of his to go and he held on the second one for over a week, and I never found it, may have just moved on and continued to hold it.

I have it. Nothing unusual about it at all.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Thats crazy. Longest I ever seen is a few days. It usually will drive a deer nuts having just one side so they will try to knock it off. Apparently this guy likes it. Keep us posted im curious how long it will go.

 

[Dunning Kruger]

Had a buck that was hanging around my property a couple years ago walking around with one side for a few weeks. Made me wanna go yank it off his head.

 

[OntarioHunter]

I often find 2 pair of antlers with moose sheds...I assumed they were shed within a narrow time range.

Yes. Even very small bulls will usually pull off the other one as soon as an antler drops. Given that moose antlers grow out sideways instead of upwards, I expect they are easier to get at with a leg.

Here's a pair found just a few feet apart. I mounted them on a fake skull for a client. A real pain in the arse but the finished product was worth it ... I guess. The bill was not cheap and client did not complain.

 

[Bambistew]

Yes. Even very small bulls will usually pull off the other one as soon as an antler drops. Given that moose antlers grow out sideways instead of upwards, I expect they are easier to get at with a leg.

Here's a pair found just a few feet apart. I mounted them on a fake skull for a client. A real pain in the arse but the finished product was worth it ... I guess. The bill was not cheap and client did not complain. View attachment 170112

That's a nice set. My experience with a few hundred moose antlers is they are rarely close together unless they are really big. We packed out 35 one weekend and only 3 sets as I recall. It was maddening, some where huge.

 

[bullbugle307]

I found two pretty decent sized moose paddles in one day once. I thought for sure the second one was the match to the first when I first spotted it. No dice, two completely different bulls. I searched all over hell and creation for the matches and never did find them.

I've not had good luck matching up antlers honestly unless they're right next to each other, which I've had happen a few times. Couldn't find the match for this elk shed I spotted on a super steep slope this year, but I did stumble across this neat little match set while deer hunting this past fall.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

These two sets were just feet apart

 

[bullbugle307]

Officer, I was only trying to shoot the antler, not the deer....!

Kansas game warden frees tangled deer by literally shooting their antlers apart

Game wardens with KDWPT first learned of the tangled deer last Thursday, after a concerned bowhunter in Jackson County alerted the department of their “unfortunate entanglement,” the wardens wrote on Facebook.

www.foxnews.com

Did you see the video from the conservation officer in Canada last year shooting the antlers of the whitetail that were locked together? If you haven't, give it a Google search. The look on his face after he broke them free with a slug is priceless.

 

[F250]

A few years ago, I was hunting cow elk in Utah the second week of January. I jumped a nice mule deer buck. He ran about 100 yards and his left antler fell off. He stopped, looked around, and started running again. A few more hops and the right antler fell off. The guy with me was more excited to get those antlers than the cow he shot later in the day !